Winter fruit

Now that we have passed the winter solstice, it is important that we limit our fruit intake along certain guidelines.  Since winter is the yin dominated season and fruit is one of the most yin foods that we eat, it is important that we pay attention to the types of fruit that we eat and how it is prepared.  According to our formula for winter, we avoid extreme yin foods and try to eat more foods that are yang in their food group.  As far as fruit is concerned, we want to eat the most yang fruits in winter.  So what would those be?

The most obvious characteristics of yang energy expressed are "small and compact".  So we would expect yang fruit to be small and compact.  Yin fruits would be larger and more expanded, juicier and less dense.  First we would want to eliminate tropical fruits like winter mellon, mangoes, other mellons, and citrus fruits.  Then we would look for fruits grown in the climate that we live in.  Blueberries, cranberries, apples, raspberries, cherries and other temperate climate fruits are more appropriate for the winter season than the larger, more yin fruits.  Some dried fruits are also welcome in the winter diet but it is good to reconstitute them so that they are not too taxing on the body's water supply.  Using these general guidelines you can regulate the amount of excess yin that builds up in the body and avoid placing the body in discharge condition.

As always, we recommend organic produce whenever possible.

Thanks for reading.

Holiday Treats

Last weekend I was asked to participate in a bakesale to help raise funds for a project that my yoga group is working on.  We want to bring a yantra to Dayton to support the community in a big way.  I thought about it and decided to make fudge.  Of course, I am not satisfied with making your Grandmother's fudge.  I wanted to make a fudge that was more nutritious with less sugar and no animal products.

Now as we approach the winter solstice, it is less and less appropriate to consume foods containing sugar as it is extremely unbalancing to the system during the winter.  So when we look at sweet foods, what can we use that is more appropriate for winter than cane sugar?  The answer, which I am sure you have all figured out before reading this sentence, is to use the sugar that is produced as far north as possible in the temperate zone.  So which sweetener is made in the northern regions of the temperate zone.  Maple syrup is the most common.  I have also seen a syrup made from apple cider which is delicious.  Rice syrup is another example of a sugar that is from a more northern region.  These sweeteners are much less unbalancing than those from tropical climates.

So I set out to find a recipe for fudge that would be more healthy.  I tried making fudge from mung beans flavored with chocolate, maple syrup and coconut oil for stability.  This tasted good but the consistency was not right.  It felt like hard boiled egg whites in your mouth.  Next I added half millet and half mung bean.  This was an improvement but still not the right consistency.  Then I was looking on facebook at my feed and there was a fudge recipe that used almond butter, cocoa, coconut butter and dates.  This proved to be really good and the texture was right.  I took that recipe to the bake sale and we sold out of the fudge.

But I am still not satisfied.  I am still thinking of what else I can do to make a healthy fudge.

Then I went to the grocery and in the health food section there was almond meal.  I looked at that and thought it would make a good base for a fudge recipe.  Right next to the almond meal was flaxseed meal.  Hmmm.  I had some flaxseed at home already and I really liked it on cereal. . . .  So I came home and threw a cup of flaxseed into the coffee grinder making flaxseed meal.  I combined this meal with one cup of cocoa and 1/4 cup of coconut oil melted over low heat and mixed with 6 tablespoons of maple syrup and a little vanilla extract.  I mixed this well and pressed it into a springform pan.  Placed it in the refrigerator for about 2 hours and then cut it into squares.  Now early reviews are good but I can and will eat about anything that has healthy ingredients.  The proof will be when my daughter comes over and maybe my son but at this point I think it is at least worth sharing with you because it just might fit into your holiday plans.

Have a spendid holiday season.

Love, Steve

Spirituality yin to Survival yang

In the US and increasingly around the world we have not understood what our role is in a world that is needing our physical labor less and less to produce a level of comfort that is unprecedented.  Survival used to take a lot of work, especially in colder climates and in the farming life.  As mechanization has increased we have become more and more sedentary with more discretionary time.  But now that our survival has been well organized and taken care of in many ways, we do not seem to be able to move on to explore what else life has to offer.  Our accomplishments have made us physically comfortable but uncomfortable within ourselves.  We have not achieved a comfort that is based on balance so that we feel at ease, content.  We are easily upset by inconsequential incidents in our lives that should not phase us.  Many are on a hair trigger and will go off at the least provocation.  Is this success?  Where do we go from here.  Do we just go on consuming more and more and use up all the resources our planet has to offer?

Instead of being satisfied with our prodigious achievements, we want more and more and more.  It is not sustainable and it is a glorification of a survival process that should be simply a given which allows us to pursue higher dimensions of consciousness.  We have become so unbalanced that turning inward does not look attractive to us because our mind is a scary process of runaway thoughts and emotions that does not seem to be able to be calm.

This excessive survival process is a result of the excess yang building up in our bodies.  It is expressed by excess action, the need to do:  work, exercise, consume, build, "improve", raise the bar, increase the standard of living.  This is compulsive in nature and threatens our very mother earth.

Spiritual process is the yin side of this equation and right now it needs to be brought into balance.  Turning inward is the only way to explore higher dimensions of life, that which is beyond the physical.  As we turn inward, we find that our lives are capable of being filled with bliss and that we are fantastical creatures of unlimited capacity to expand our consciousness.  Bringing balance to the physical allows us to access our spiritual possibilities and to grow on a path towards our ultimate enlightenment.

This does not require more stuff, just more attention.

Blessings and thanks for reading.

Steve

Temperate zone transition

If you live above the 30th parallel in the northern hemisphere, we are beginning the southern run of the sun.  This means that the days grow shorter and the sun beams become less intense.  We transition from a yang dominated environment to a yin dominated environment.  Thus we must adjust our diet accordingly if we wish to stay balanced.  We need to restrict our use of tropical fruits and vegetables and depend more on the vegetables that can winter over in storage.  These are the squashes, pumpkins, root vegetables, and ground vegetables.  Now is the time to pickle those cucumbers and cabbages so that you have sauerkraut all winter long.  If you eat fruit in the winter, we recommend that you eat fruit that grows in your area, smaller, more compact fruit like blueberries and raspberries, cranberries, etc.

In winter we eat more of these foods lightly cooked, especially fruit.  Since the winter is a yin dominated environment, we limit our intake of extreme yin foods such as ice cream, alcohol, iced drinks, and refined sugar in general, substituting northern sugars like maple syrup and rice syrup.  One can also use apple butter as a sweetener in many recipes.

In addition, we eat less of the yin grains and beans (larger, more expanded like corn and large beans) and transition to small compact beans like adzuki beans and black beans, and grains like oats and millet and in northern regions, short grain brown rice.  These grains and beans are very warming in the winter and help to keep us balanced.

Too much liquid can also be unbalancing in the winter and although we eat more sodium in the winter, it is best to watch the sodium level so as not to over react.  An umeboshi plum taken in warm water once per week can keep you energized and your vitality strong.

Given these strategies, you should be able to balance the yin dominated winter and emerge in spring without the need to discharge through the winter season.

Have a beautiful transition.

Thanks for reading.

Yoga teacher

At the end of last year I completed six months of intense preparation and practice of hata yoga at the Isha Yoga Center in South India.  Since that time I have been establishing a teaching practice and have had the honour to teach many friends and fellow meditators new practices from hata yoga.  Many of these practices have a profound balancing effect on the human system and bring stability to the body and stillness to the mind.

In my travels this past year I have encountered many people who dispite practicing extensive yoga, are still struggling with issues of imbalance on a daily basis.  They have blood sugar issues or have difficulty sleeping.  They carry too much weight or they suffer from anxiety.  They are stressed or angry often.  Many of these issues can be significantly helped by proper yoga.  But proper yoga with the support of a lifestyle that brings balance is much more effective at bringing about transformation.  

So I remain committed to contribute in both ways to the evolving balance of my community by continuing to share the technology of balance both thru diet and lifestyle and through the practice of yoga.  I deliver yoga through my company Spiritual Yoga of Southwest Ohio.  Our website is spiritualyoga-swohio.org. Please contact us if we can be of service to you.

Thanks for reading

Blessings

Satisfaction

When the year 2000 came along, the radio stations had some lists of the most popular songs of the 20th century.  In the rock and roll category the song that was the most popular song of the 20th century was "I Can't Get No Satisfaction" by the Rolling Stones.  This was a metaphor for my generation.  In many ways my generation was first to experience certain phenomenon.  We were the first to experience TV.  Frozen food, processed food, fast food, super markets, prosperity at unprecidented levels, comfort at unprecidented levels.  Many of these phenomena created a severe imbalance between yin and yang in the general population.  In general, when we came out of high school, we were predominantly excess yang.

I deduce this because of the result that it produced, a rise in the use of drugs and alcohol.  These extreme yin substances were in high demand because of the imbalance that was the result of what we did as children.  In many ways, prosperity leads to excess and when the system is in excess, it does not feel satisfied.  So this dissatisfaction was a critical factor for my generation.

Many of my generation have never found the kind of profound sense of satisfaction that is the result of becomming balanced.

When I was 40, I was a wreck.  I had screwed up my career and my marriage.  I was overweight (185) and I was aggressive, boorish, sluggish, and depressed.  I knew I had to make a change.  I heard about a diet that was supposed to bring balance to the system and I was curious so I got a book about it and read it.  It said that to bring balance you need to eat foods from the middle of the spectrum of foods yin to yang.  It said that for where I lived, medium grain whole grain brown rice was in the middle as well as other whole grains.  It said to combine these grains with vegetables and fruits that were locally grown and in season, chew everything well and enjoy.  I decided to try it.

I had a box of brown rice in the cupboard and I got it out and cooked it.  I added a cup of cooked brown rice to my meal twice each day and did not worry about giving up anything.  After two months, I had lost 25 pounds, my desire for meat had reduced by 90% and my desire for sweets had reduced by 50%.  The most impressive effect, however, was a feeling I had never felt before, which I can only describe as satisfaction.  Suddenly the world looked very different.  A whole array of opportunities opened before me.  People at work noticed the change.  They said I was more peaceful, more approachable.  I was less angry, less moody, more even.  I had more control.

Since then, I have continued to evolve in many ways, but the feeling of satisfaction has never left me and has become the basis to explore higher dimensions of life.

Find satisfaction in your own life.  You will be glad you did.

Thanks for reading.  Blessings.

Here is a balancing smoothie that I made this morning.  One banana (yin), one apple (not as yin), a chunk of green cabbage (less yin), a handful of baby carrots (even less yin), a half cup of cooked brown rice (middle), and some apple juice and water.

It is sweet and creamy and also balancing.  Enjoy!

Thanks for reading.

Refined and Unrefined

Often I am asked what the one thing a person can do to bring balance to the system.  Not everyone is the same but in my experience people can benefit from eating less refined foods.  So what is refinement?  A refined food is a food that has been altered from its natural state to make it easier to eat or easier to cook.  Often key elements of the food may be removed.  For example, when brown rice is refined into white rice the bran and germ are removed which removes about 40% of the food value.

If you look closely at your body, you will see that your body is a machine that is meticulously designed to refine food.  You have teeth and saliva which chew rough foods into a more liquid or paste substance.  Then your stomach breaks the chewed food down even further and sends it to the small intestine which, over a period of time, performs the miracle of absorption and transforms the broken down food into a human being.  This whole process takes about 4 to 6 hours.

Now let's look at what happens to refined food when introduced into the body.  Refined foods have already been broken down into very small particles so in many cases they do not require chewing.  So many of these foods are swallowed directly without mixing with saliva.  This means when the food enters the stomach, it is lacking the enzymes present in saliva which aid in the digestive process.  Even if chewed, the refined food is foreign to the stomach and it does not know how to handle it.  The small particles of refined foods are easily broken down in the stomach and inappropriately are absorbed through the wall of the stomach directly into the blood stream.  This happens much quicker than the absorbtion of unrefined foods.  This absorbed substance raises the blood sugar levels quickly and creates an emergency situation for the body.  The sudden increase in blood sugar must be leveled out.  The body goes into defensive mode and the liver starts transforming sugar into a storage medium, fat.  This lowers the blood sugar levels again and results in the feeling of hunger.  The body does not know how to get the stored sugar out of the fat because it is a form of long term storage, so its only recourse is to call for more input from more food or drink.  This cycle takes about 2 hours and so the body wants some kind of snack within 2 hours of eating.

If you go to any kind of place where there are children engaged in some kind of activity, you will find that most of them need some kind of food or drink every 2 hours.  If they don't get it, they will not be able to function due to their blood sugar dropping.  Adults are also tied up in this cycle.

When unrefined food is eaten, the process of breaking it down and absorbing it provides a very steady blood sugar level throughout the 4 to 6 hours that it takes for the process to complete.  The result is that a person does not get hungry easily.  The body never goes into emergency mode and so it is not stressed.  Emotions are steady and the mind is clear.  It is a beautiful and effective way to live.

Unrefine your diet and take control over your life.

Thanks for reading.

Visiting Seattle

I am in Seattle this week visiting my daughter and her family.  I have three grandchildren.  They are 10, 7, and 3 years of age.  I have to say after one day, the children seem somewhat more balanced than I have ever seen them before.  My daughter also seems more balanced than I have seen her in some time.  This makes for a pleasant visiting environment.

It is gray and gloomy here so far and yin force dominates with the moist air and lack of sunshine.  We will make the best of it with sunshine from winter squash and other winter vegetables which store sunshine as they grow and give it back to you when you consume them.  It's a beautiful arrangement.

We will take advantage of the yin force with some skiing on a couple of days.  Yee Haw!!

Take care and thanks for reading.

Still Yin dominating

Only a few more weeks until we start transitioning to warm weather.  Hang in there.  Here in Dayton, Ohio the snow has melted after a week in the 50's and 60's.  Those of you who are in the northern regions still have some winter left.  Yin force is dominant now so continue to lightly cook vegetables and fruit and avoid extreme yin foods such as alcohol, cold foods like ice cream, and sugar.  Use grains that are small and compact like short grain brown rice and amaranth.  Buckwheat is also very warming.  It was the main grain in Russia historically.  Eat meat sparingly to support active physical activity.

Be observant and you can perceive the yin and yang force working in your body.  You have to pay close attention.  Also notice the vast intelligence that is demonstrated by the nature around you.  You can not help but be in reverence for all creation.

My blessings.

Thanks for reading.

India and back in 21 weeks

I recently returned from India (Nov. 30) after 21 weeks there.  I participated in the first Hata Yoga Teacher Training school designed and given by Isha Foundation at the Isha Yoga Center about an hour and a half southwest of Coimbatore in the state of Tamil Nadu.  The Isha Yoga Center sits at the base of mountains that are locally known as the Velliangiri Foothills   When I say at the base I mean that the ashram adjoins a nature preserve and you can walk from the ashram to the mountain in about thirty minutes.  We climbed the mountain to various waterfalls a few times while we were there.

One of our overnight treks took us to a river flowing down the mountain about 5 hours hike from the ashram.  It was a beautiful spot and the water was pristine.  You could actually drink the water without purification.  This is so rare in the world of my experience that there are still places that are this pristine.

The energy generated by the falling water is invigorating and the yin energy is very intense being so close to the equator and at elevation (maybe 4000 ft, 1500 m.).  This intense yin energy is often manifested as mist and the mountains are often shrouded in clouds.  The energy rolls down the mountain and settles in the valley below including the ashram.  If you go on Google Earth and type in Isha Yoga Center you can see what I am writing about.

The center is at the 11th parallel and so is quite close to the equator.  This is where the yin force (centrifugal) is the strongest.  Yogis like to be below the 30th parallel as the strong yin forces help their energies rise.  Some yogis would remain vertical at all times, even during sleep to insure that the yin force always moved outward through the body.

Anyway, I am back home in Ohio and it is an adjustment to jump directly into winter.  Needless to say I am in excess yin and have had to be very careful to readjust my diet to align with the cold weather.  Remember, in extreme adjustments like this, always adjust to the center for the place where you are living.

Thanks for reading.

Mood swings

Today I was riding in a car as my daughter was driving.  She is 16 and a newly licensed driver.  As we approached a traffic light controlled intersection, she asked me if she should turn right at the light.  I was confused and so did not answer immediately because there was no reason to turn and I did not know why she would ask.  In the meantime she pressed her question and the light turned red as she drifted into the intersection.  Luckily the traffic was light and she managed to get out of the intersection without an accident.

At that point she became somewhat moody and not herself.  This continued till we arrived home in about 5 minutes.  She left for a few minutes and then returned.  In the meantime, I had a chance to think over what had happened in the car and then it struck me that the incident had been caused by a drop in her blood sugar.  I have seen this so many times but not recently so I was a little slow to recognize the symptoms.

This indicates that she is consuming too many sugar and white flower products and not enough complex carbohydrates.  So later we had a discussion about this because I wanted her to be aware of what was happening and that she was making some problematic food choices.  She doesn't take my advice very gracefully but the mood swings brought on by a drop in blood sugar can be disorienting and debilitating in many ways.

My daughter has been so balanced all her life and I hope that she can use her intelligence enough to maintain this balance in the face of very strong peer pressure.  It is not easy.

I am saddened by the lack of healthy food choices I observe among teenagers these days.  There is a high price to pay.

Thanks for reading.